Indian film TUMBBAD to open Venice film fest's Critics' Week

Indian fantasy film TUMBBAD will open the Venice Film Festival's Critics' Week. It will be screened out of competition.

The section's artistic director, Giona Nazzaro, described the 19th-century-set TUMBBAD , co-directed by Rai Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad, as a fast-paced parable about greed and "a visionary fantasy film, rich in visual inventions, special effects and blood", reported variety.com.

The Hindi-language epic, produced by Mumbai-based Little Town Films, is sold internationally by Eros International.

The gala unveiled on Monday a line-up of nine first works by international filmmakers, all of them world premieres.

The films in the competition line-up include Sudanese director's Hajooj Kuka's A KASHA (THE ROUNDUP), a comedy of errors set during Sudan's civil war; German director Andreas Goldstein's ADAM AND EVELYN a coming-of-age story set in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Besides, Franco-Swiss directorial duo Alexia Walther and Maxime Matray's BLONDE ANIMALS, a comedy involving the former star of a short-lived TV sitcom; and "Still Recording," a documentary on the conflict in Syria.

Also competing are Finnish pop star-turned-director Anna Eriksoon's "M", an experimental horror film; Italian director Letizia Lamartire's comedy WE'LL BE YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL about a mother-and-son pop band; and Montenegrin Ivan Salatic's YOU HAVE THE NIGHT, an economic crisis drama that the section calls "a hymn of human dignity and endurance".

Tunisian director Abdelhamid Bouchnaka's horror film, DACHRA which tackles the conflict between tradition and modernity through the hope for a revolution that is not yet accomplished, will close the out-of-competition section.

The full official-selection lineup of the 75th Venice Film Festival will be announced on Wednesday. The festival runs from August 29 to September 8.